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The Ritual of Partitions
The Ritual of Partitions is publicly known as the ritual to divide a king or queen's power. This means formally appointing a king or queen's six Guardians. The titles are bestowed to an individual and are removed when the individual has proven unworthy of the title and has it revoked, the individual retires, or the individual dies. Traditionally, each Guardian is appointed in the temple which they will be overseeing, but there have been instances where all Guardians are named in one temple alone. Most often, the Ritual of Partitions is paired with the Pilgrimage to save time and effort, but there have been a few cases where they are done separately and out of order. History While it is true that the purpose behind the ritual is to divide a king or queen's power, it does not mean politically. A monarch able to wield the true power of the Calling Stone cannot do so by themselves. The might of a Goddess, even a fraction, is too much for a human to bear and trying to do so meant death before they could even think to control it. So, to mitigate the risk to himself and to be able to effectively utilize the stone, Cassius Theron bestowed even smaller fractions of the power to his six most trusted allies, naming them Guardians of the Temple, and sent them to each temple to defend them against invasion. This also was to keep them from stopping him from carrying out his plan to restore the barrier whether it cost his life or not. This was the first Ritual of Partitions. The second Ritual, however, was a facade. Wolfrick Greyson was unworthy of the Calling Stone, as he was technically an enemy of the Goddesses. However, knowing that he had an image to uphold, he held a mock ritual, carrying over the titles from Cassius' time as king and appointing a personal friend as Guardian of the Mire. If he hadn't forged the ritual, the people would have lost confidence in him. He knew the Goddess hadn't truly returned, but if thinking she had kept the people's morale up and got things done, then he could pretend. Radcliffe Montesano, after him, continued this tradition, and it continued until the coronation of Miriam Vesta, who could truly carry out the Ritual. After Miriam's death, the tradition of a mock ritual was reinstated, carried out until Kiro Tyndareus' ritual. Guardians The term "Guardians" was originally written out as "Guardians of the Temples", those who would protect the temples from the invading Mirans. However, after Wolfrick Greyson was killed only four years into his reign, Radcliffe Montesano renamed them "Guardians of the King'". That is, the king's personal guard and guardians of that which the king wishes to protect, namely the temples. However, as time went on and Miriam eventually took control, she once again modified it, shortening it to simply "Guardians" with the implication that they would protect both the king and the temples. The six titles of Guardian are: *Guardian of the Forest; *Guardian of the Mire; *Guardian of the Mountains; *Guardian of the Sea; *Guardian of the Valley; and *Guardian of the Desert. Each Guardian protects a single temple and carries a fraction of the Goddess' power. This illustrated in the table below. Stipulations Upon achieving the title of Guardian, the oath-taker binds themselves spiritually to the king or queen. In exchange for their power, they swear to protect the king or queen with their life. Should they die, the king or queen are immediately notified by a sharp, bodily pain (as in this case, they are losing a part of themselves) and a vision of the Guardian's death. The king or queen can then choose to expend their power to resurrect the individual or to revoke their title and let them die. This is, of course, breaking the oath to never bring harm to the king or queen, and so being reckless is discouraged. It is especially discouraged in the case of Guardians who underwent the fake ritual since they are unable to be resurrected. To manifest their powers, Guardians have to use the king or queen as a conduit, so there is a bit of lag due to permissions. This is done via the following steps: #Visualize the end product #Petition the king or queen (telepathically) for power #Receive the blessing #Create the intended effect. Therefore, it is a sign of great trust to be appointed a Guardian by a king or queen, as most often they will leave the gates open and allow for free access. Of course, this rule does not extend to Guardians who underwent a fake ritual, as they do not have access to the Calling Stone and so would not have been blessed with divine power in the first place. There are also stipulations when appointing Guardians: *Each Guardian must be from a separate region to eliminate bias *Although not required, relatives or established heirs of previous Guardians are often chosen before those who fight for the position. *Also not required but heavily encouraged, Guardians should not have a criminal history. *(Added later in history) Guardians cannot be given a royal title should they marry the king or queen to eliminate bias. They will either have to abandon the title of Guardian or remain a Guardian and forfeit the royal privileges. Job standards for the Guardians include: *Guardians must be willing to die for the king or queen, but cannot actively seek death. *Guardians cannot cause harm in any way shape or form to the king or queen, nor can they abandon the temple. In the case of choosing one over the other, the king or queen takes priority. *Guardians must be able to travel to the castle or temple immediately when summoned. *Guardians must uphold the laws and follow orders at all times unless doing so is a direct affront to the Goddesses. *Twice a year, Guardians must return to the castle for council. *Guardians must visit their temple four times a year. *At least two Guardians must remain by the king's side at all times. Guardian's Oath Ye who wuschest to be blesced par the Goddess, bathen in the liht of her Grace, erest thou moste swerest to Us an oth. Strikest in thy blod and brennest in thy bons thies lahen of vertues. Aboven al-elles, holdest Feith in the Goddesses and in the Crown. Beest eure Benevolent and Noble, and avow to defendest Justice in al-formes. Grauntest thine Mercy to the wayke and the earme, but agenst thine enemy, prouest thy Valor. On ende, in the wake of brising doute and despeir, beest the piler of Hope. Dest thou greest to these terms? Henceforth, blesced be to thee who shalt deelest in the burden of Salvation. Ac, be ware, for if thou chesest to brekest thoes oth, thane thou shalt beest damned to torment eterne and non shalt aheth mercy to thy corruptid soule. Category:History Category:Events